Education 1. What was the situation for that group/institution before Gorbachev became Premier?
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1) Use of school as an important instrument for promoting policies of the Soviet leadership 2) Coordination of the work of the school with industrial and agricultural enterprises
3)Coordination of the work of the school with youth, community, and political organizations 4) Combination of general education with polytechnical labor education; 5)Combination of
poly technical labor education and aesthetic and general education with moral education 6) Equation of moral education with the communist ethical system delineated by Soviet leaders7) Union of academic and ethical knowledge with practical application in "socially useful" activities.
Each of these principles has been interpreted and implemented in the schools in different ways over the years. Sometimes these principles have been stressed. Sometimes these
principles have been de-emphasized. And sometimes these principles have been ignored. But not one has ever been abandoned in theory (Long, p409). Further, each of these principles
supports the contention that the Soviet educational system is geared toward economic utility (socially useful labor) rather than the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. (Sweeney)
Education has always been seen as a pillar of national belief and a key determinant of social structure within the lands of the Soviet Union. The fundamentals of the education system included: training the youth for the technological modern state in specialized areas, keeping the country competitive against other nations in a geopolitical and socioeconomic sense, creating strong values and beliefs, and determining the status of one (as mirrored by the prestige of one’s attended school/education)
Under Lenin, and “upbringing”, or Vospitania was initiated. It was a planned process involving the cooperative efforts of the home, community and school to teach the youth of the Soviet world. In 1920, Lenin proclaimed that “the entire purpose of training, education, and teaching the youth of today should be to imbue them with communist ethics…The School apart from life, apart from politics, is a lie and a hypocrisy.”
Education was primarily more focused on setting the moral of the youth, than academic. It was to create a proper group atmosphere so that the school system would provide children a environment to properly grow up and result in becoming good Soviet citizens. The education system was for the good of the state, to teach skills that would be required in the current and future economy, and for socialist goals (production for use).
2. How did that group/institution interpret the application of those policies to it? Document 2:
Russian education became overburdened with ideology; no discussion was possible about general human values that might transcend class boundaries. In the wake of perestroika, there was an extreme counter-reaction against everything connected with Soviet education. This has resulted in colossal pessimism among many educationist and teachers, who feel that the entire educational system is in ruins. Additional problems are created by the commercialization of all spheres of life and the growth of criminality. Teachers are unclear about what values should be inculcated in schools, and the values of education itself is called into question in a society where it is becoming increasing difficult to make an honest living. (Nikandrov)
Teachers were able to be relieved of the repsobility of injecting Marxist- Lenisnst pihlosphy or the Communisty PArty line within Clasrroom discussions; Teachers were also allowed to now deviate from the textbook and use materails fro outside sources, which was very much appreciated by educators. Teachers were encouraged to seek out different forms of teaching styels, and students were allowed to invesitage the crimes of past Soviet regimes. An aspect of "truth" was now able to be present within the classroom, no longer was education to be mended and molded, andtweaked. Students and teachers felt the freedom in education that truly should have been provided.
3. How did the Soviet state apply those policies to that group/institution, and what were the effects?
Document 3:
In the Soviet Union, reforming the educational system has been a perennial task of educational bureaucrats and administrators. Soviet schools, universities, and vocational institutes had always been centrally controlled, and so change from above were easily undertaken. Earlier reforms often focused on the curriculum; there was an osculating concern for academic excellence on the one hand and a desire to bolster the economy by channeling students into vocational preparation on the other. Methods of teaching were not subjects of intense debate. Decisions about the structure of schooling were made in the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary Education; directions for educational research and development were determined by the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and carried out by its in constituent research institutes. (Kerr)
In the Soviet Union, reforming the educational system has been a perennial task of educational bureaucrats and administrators. Soviet schools, universities, and vocational institutes had always been centrally controlled, and so change from above were easily undertaken. Earlier reforms often focused on the curriculum; there was an osculating concern for academic excellence on the one hand and a desire to bolster the economy by channeling students into vocational preparation on the other. Methods of teaching were not subjects of intense debate. Decisions about the structure of schooling were made in the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary Education; directions for educational research and development were determined by the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and carried out by its in constituent research institutes.
Each school was to be associated with a base enterprise (firms, laboratories, factories, farms) that could provide students hands on training, as well as possible jobs upon their graduation
Higher Education Institutions: University of Humanities Faculty, Technical Institutes, Agricultural Institutes, and Medical Institute
§Correlation between family background and education provided to student
Majority of students who came from families with fathers who were specialists (professionals) attended the Humanities Faculty, Medical, and Technical Universities
Farmer’s children were well represented in the agricultural institutes
Manual Worker’s children populated the technical institutes majorly
4) What was the significance of Gorbachev’s reforms as it pertained to that group/institution? Document 4:
(Brodinsky)
o Under Gorbachev’s reforms, a system that offers multiple point of views, rather than the previous centralized and controlled orientation, will be encouraged.
o Increased the length of schooling by one year
o Reforms will lead to a more highly stratified educational and social system, intensifying the importance of one’s academic degree and prestige of attended school within society
1. What was the situation for that group/institution before Gorbachev became Premier?
Education has always been seen as a pillar of national belief and a key determinant of social structure within the lands of the Soviet Union. The fundamentals of the education system included: training the youth for the technological modern state in specialized areas, keeping the country competitive against other nations in a geopolitical and socioeconomic sense, creating strong values and beliefs, and determining the status of one (as mirrored by the prestige of one’s attended school/education)
Under Lenin, and “upbringing”, or Vospitania was initiated. It was a planned process involving the cooperative efforts of the home, community and school to teach the youth of the Soviet world. In 1920, Lenin proclaimed that “the entire purpose of training, education, and teaching the youth of today should be to imbue them with communist ethics…The School apart from life, apart from politics, is a lie and a hypocrisy.”
Education was primarily more focused on setting the moral of the youth, than academic. It was to create a proper group atmosphere so that the school system would provide children a environment to properly grow up and result in becoming good Soviet citizens. The education system was for the good of the state, to teach skills that would be required in the current and future economy, and for socialist goals (production for use).
2. How did that group/institution interpret the application of those policies to it?
Document 2:
Teachers were able to be relieved of the repsobility of injecting Marxist- Lenisnst pihlosphy or the Communisty PArty line within Clasrroom discussions; Teachers were also allowed to now deviate from the textbook and use materails fro outside sources, which was very much appreciated by educators. Teachers were encouraged to seek out different forms of teaching styels, and students were allowed to invesitage the crimes of past Soviet regimes. An aspect of "truth" was now able to be present within the classroom, no longer was education to be mended and molded, andtweaked. Students and teachers felt the freedom in education that truly should have been provided.
3. How did the Soviet state apply those policies to that group/institution, and what were the effects?
4) What was the significance of Gorbachev’s reforms as it pertained to that group/institution?
Document 4:
BIb
Brodinsky, Ben. "The Impact of Perestroika on Soviet Education." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20404646>.
Kerr, Stephen T. "Will Glasnost Lead to Perestroika? Directions of Educational Reform in the
USSR." JSTOR. American Educational Research Center, Oct. 1990. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1176414>.
Sweeny, Chuck. "IMPACT OF PERESTROIKA AND GLASNOST ON SOVIET EDUCATION." IMPACT OF
PERESTROIKA AND GLASNOST ON SOVIET EDUCATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends/education/russian.education.research.html>.